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Main surnames

Pie chart showing percentages of ancestors from different counties

66 per cent Staffordshire!

I noticed that a few genealogists were posting on social media some pedigree-style charts of their ancestors’ birthplaces, colour-coded to show the different counties. I knew that most of my direct ancestors were born in Staffordshire, but it wasn’t until I filled in the chart back to my 3x great-grandparents that I realised quite how many of them were from the county.

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Ancestry family tree

Direct ancestors

Receiving my AncestryDNA results prompted me to look again at family history research relating only to my direct ancestors. I had thought I was doing quite well – with one line going back ten generations to my 8x great-grandparents. However, because of the doubling of numbers at each generation, we all have mind-bogglingly large numbers of direct ancestors.

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Image of High Street, Swindon

Williams family of Swindon

The family of Isaac and Sarah Williams (nee Baldwin) moved to Swindon, Staffordshire between 1869 and 1871, moving from Lower Mitton (Stourport) in Worcestershire to Wolverhampton between 1861 and 1863 and then to Swindon, a small village in Staffordshire, near to Dudley.

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Image of St Peter's Church

Moore family of Wednesfield Heath

Joseph MOORE and Elizabeth COOK married on 25th December 1824 at St Peter’s church, Wolverhampton. The 1851 census shows them living in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, with Joseph recorded as a miner. Elizabeth is listed as being born in Wolverhampton but Joseph’s birthplace is given just as Warwickshire. He had died by the time of the 1861 census so it’s unlikely that I shall ever be able to prove his exact place of birth.

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Image of Braunston village

Fern family of Braunston

It’s thanks to contact from a fellow researcher (Margaret Redfern) that I discovered the existence of the FERN branch of my tree.

Information from Margaret gave the father of my great-grandfather Henry MOORE as Timothy Fern. All I had known until this point was that Henry was the illegitimate son of Selina Moore and was born in 1867. I had no information on Henry’s father. Selina also gave birth to another illegitimate child , Sarah Ann Moore, in 1870.

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Postcard of old Stourport

Baldwin family of Stourport

John BALDWIN was born c.1812 in Lower Mitton (Stourport), Worcestershire, and was the son of Thomas and Sarah Baldwin. He wasn’t baptised until the age of 6 (the baptism took place as Stourport Wesleyan Methodist Church). I haven’t been able to find out much about Thomas and Sarah, other than Thomas was born around 1779 and died in Stourport in 1849. Sarah, whose maiden name is unknown, died on 8th July 1839, aged 60. They are known to have had six children, born between 1803-1819 – the five youngest all being baptised at Stourport Wesleyan Methodist Church.

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